Tag: technology

Chancellor Birgeneau visits South Korea on Asia trip

November 8, 2011:

Chancellor Birgeneau and campus faculty experts are on a swing through Asia this week.

UC Berkeley start-up creates energy-efficient buildings

November 8, 2011:

In 2005, Charlie Huizenga and two UC Berkeley MBA graduates started Adura Technologies to install energy efficient wireless lighting systems in buildings. Their technology, based on innovations by UC Berkeley architects and engineers, has significantly reduced lighting costs in more than 2 million square feet of public and private buildings, including UC Berkeley’s undergraduate library.

NSF awards $2 million to expand Sierra Nevada water sensors

October 3, 2011:

CITRIS researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Merced have received a $2 million NSF grant to expand their network of wireless sensors in the Sierra Nevada. The sensors enable remote monitoring of snow depth, stream flow, water content in soil and use of water in vegetation – data that will be used to help manage one of the most precious resources in the state.

Tech Commons to facilitate campuswide IT collaboration

September 14, 2011:

IT staff in small units across the Berkeley campus lack a common, easy-access space for sharing information about technology problems and solutions. In mid-September, IST will launch Tech Commons, a campuswide, community-sourced application for sharing and reviewing technology tools and products.

Mobile students can now find classes fast

August 26, 2011:

For many students, the first weeks of a new semester can mean rushing around campus agonizing over which courses to add or drop. But roving students can now check out a schedule of classes on their iPhones, Androids and other mobile devices at http://m.berkeley.edu/courses/

Twitter’s Biz Stone joins Haas School of Business as executive fellow

August 23, 2011:

Twitter co-founder and serial entrepreneur Biz Stone will share his experiences and insights with the Haas School as the school’s fourth executive fellow, a position in which respected executives and thought leaders advise the dean, faculty and staff.

Elaine Tennant named new Bancroft Library director

August 22, 2011:

Elaine Tennant, a medieval and early modern specialist in the German and Scandinavian departments at the University of California, Berkeley, will become the James D. Hart Director of UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library starting in September.

Chamberlin Fund launches exploration of online education for Berkeley professional schools, extension program

August 16, 2011:

Highly qualified students from around the world could have greater access to programs at the University of California, Berkeley professional schools and through UC Berkeley Extension, thanks to $1 million from the Chamberlin Family Donor Designated Fund at the University of California, Berkeley Foundation.

ETS creating active learning classroom ‘test kitchen’ in Dwinelle

August 2, 2011:

Educational Technology Services is building a prototype classroom where instructors can be more innovative and students can engage actively. The “test kitchen,” opening this fall in Dwinelle 127, will transform a video conferencing space into a classroom with updated a/v equipment, flexible furniture, portable writing surfaces, new lighting and restored windows.

Laundry duty getting you down? Robots to the rescue!

June 29, 2011:

Folding laundry may seem mundane, but for a robot, identifying a 3-D object and manipulating it correctly, it’s an exercise that requires intelligence that humans may take for granted. Pieter Abbeel and his team of engineers are developing increasingly efficient strategies and algorithms to help robots fold towels, forming the foundation for the next generation of robotics that could increase the independence of disabled people, protect soldiers in combat and more.

California Language Archive clicks with multiple resources

June 20, 2011:

The new California Language Archive (CLA) website at UC Berkeley – the largest indigenous language archive at a U.S. university – is now accessible free of charge to anyone with Internet access.

CITRIS, Berlin institute partner to advance data visualization

June 9, 2011:

CITRIS and Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute have entered into a collaboration aimed at developing new solutions to help users better deal with the huge amount of data now being generated with increasing complexity.

New Intel lab will focus on secure computing

June 7, 2011:

Intel Labs announced a second Intel Science and Technology Center to open at UC Berkeley with a focus on secure computing. Funded by $15 million over five years, the new center will encourage tighter collaboration between university thought leaders and Intel.

Graphene optical modulators could lead to ultrafast communications

May 8, 2011:

UC Berkeley researchers have shown that graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of crystallized carbon, can be tuned electrically to modify the amount of photons absorbed. This ability to switch light on and off is the fundamental characteristic of a network modulator, opening the door to optical computing in handheld electronics.

Cal Alumni, Chevron partner on new STEM scholarships

April 12, 2011:

At the April 9 Charter Gala honoring U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Chevron Corp. announced a $100,000 contribution to the Cal Alumni Association’s Achievement Award Program to promote science, engineering, technology and math education.

The I School at SXSW

March 17, 2011:

Two School of Information graduate students and three alumni presented at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas, recently. SXSW Interactive featured five days of presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology and a showcase of new digital works, video games and innovative ideas.

Business students’ NextDrop project keeps on winning

March 9, 2011:

On the heels of winning one international mobile app prize, Haas students’ NextDrop project won the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition. The project — which addresses the challenge of unreliable piped water in developing countries — was awarded a $10,000 prize.

On Africa, Wikipedia comes up short, iSchool student says

March 2, 2011:

School of Information grad student Heather Ford argues in a recent essay that Wikipedia displays a bias on African topics. The South African native says this epitomizes the challenges facing the crowd-sourced encyclopedia as it seeks to “make all human knowledge accessible.”

QB3 symposium highlights job creation through innovation

February 28, 2011:

The California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) celebrates a decade of driving the bioeconomy and spells out its goal of helping the state foster science and innovation to benefit society.

Engineers grow nanolasers on silicon, pave way for on-chip photonics

February 6, 2011:

UC Berkeley engineers have found a way to grow nanolasers directly onto a silicon surface, an achievement that could lead to a new class of faster, more efficient microprocessors, as well as to powerful biochemical sensors that use optoelectronic chips.

Elizabeth Warren envisions launch of tough ’21st-century’ watchdog agency

October 29, 2010:

Consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren, speaking Thursday evening at the Mario Savio Memorial Lecture, diverged from her “standard” speech — on the worsening financial straits of the U.S. middle class — to talk about what it means “to build a new agency in a new world where information travels at the speed of light.” Warren said new technology can help make the agency responsive to consumers and less vulnerable to “capture” by the financial-services industry.

New advisory group to help map campus’s technological future

February 9, 2010:

Berkeley students will offer up their IT expertise and insights on the Student Technology Council, an advisory group that will help develop new, scalable, and green IT projects.